Maidens for Hire: Unexpected Calamity
by Hwikek
Summary: The Maidens for Hire Tokyo branch experiences an unexpected attack on their corporate building. CEO of Maidens for Hire Koyomi Mizuhara is forced to bring out an experimental model in order to buy them some more time. Will this desperate gamble pay off, or has the company reached a crisis it cannot overcome? Fully endorsed by Maidens for Hire creator Miz-KTakase
1. The Violence Begins

Maidens for Hire was built with the singular purpose of creating robotic maids to serve a user's every whim, no questions asked. Although you were expected to not give into your sick midnight fantasies. Designed by Koyomi Mizuhara, these robots had quickly become very popular due to their eye pleasing aesthetics and ability to clean at a heart-warming speed and efficiency. Each model was unique in its personality, looks, and they could even be ordered with certain custom options. However some of the early models were a bit of a disaster. One even managed to go on a rampage. But despite odd moments of sentience and a little bit of heart break the company stood strong. Software issues were corrected, customers were satisfied, and Mizuhara's profits continued to increase.

In fact the company was starting to perform so well it began to branch out from the original maid service. The initial spinoff was what came to be called Butlers for Hire, these machines were designed to improve and supplement the maidens performance. Butlers were also meant to serve the whims of females who weren't too "experimental" or even guys who swung a certain way. The problems with the butler line were not as extensive as what had plagued the company's early maidens. It still hadn't quite managed to be flawless; one Kenji model had tried to destroy another android. Thankfully that issue had been swiftly and properly dealt with. Another branch of robots called Children for Care had been created as well. The children were designed for people who wanted to be parents but couldn't have children for whatever reason. Early test models had shown that with a few revisions the robots would be ready.

Yes, the Maidens for Hire Corporation felt like it was on top of the world. They were well established as the number one robotic services group in Japan. It seemed as if the good times would never end. But one day the company experienced a catastrophic event, one that turned their world upside down.

On a warm spring day the various members of the Maiden's for Hire board were all gathered at the main building of the Tokyo branch to discuss their company's performance. While most of the office members where heavily focused on this important task, one in particular was bored out of her robotic mind. Tomo Model-#86662426 Version 2 was gazing lazily out the window at the sunshine. She started to daydream about the days before she had been made into a company executive and was just living carefree with her solar panel. The robotic version of Tomo's lack of drive was starting to get on the nerves of both Koyomi Mizuhara and Eri Sawachika, the heads of the Tokyo and Yagami branches of Maidens for Hire, respectfully.

"Tomo," said Yomi, "as your hardware and software continue to age you've started acting more and more like the real Tomo Takino," the company's founder quipped. "On the one hand I'm glad that even my older systems can do such a successful modeling of a human being, despite being metal and plastic. On the other hand this is starting to get out of hand. If you really end up perfectly simulating Tomo's character then, I'll have to reassign you to a post where you won't be able to do as much damage to the company."

Eri Sawachika glared at the android apathetically resting her head against the conference table. The feisty blonde then decided to speak her mind. "You know Tomo, here I am as the vice president of the company watching you do absolutely nothing while I'm here working my butt off along with the other executives. When did you start becoming so lazy and unresponsive anyways?"

"Does it matter?" asked Tomo, "I'm just reminiscing on those long lost days of youth when I wandered around with not much more than a solar panel and an attitude."

"We stopped installing the solar panels on future production models for exactly that reason," Eri snapped. "Not to mention we took your solar panel away at the first opportunity we could find. There would be nothing worse for the company than to have completely autonomous androids wander around of their own free will. Each of the current lines is designed specifically to be controllable and not self-sustaining."

"Then what about those Children for Care prototypes?" Tomo asked in a sarcastic manner. "Models that can run off of food and still utilize the normal power sources of the Maiden and Butler lines? Sounds pretty autonomous to me."

Eri chuckled to herself before she replied to the maiden's comments. "Of course it would look that way to you. However Ms. Mizuhara and I both made sure that the Children line had built in fail-safes. The most obvious one is that each model requires coolant candy in order to maintain their systems. Since coolant candy is completely synthetic and impossible to create outside of an industrial chemical plant, each of the children models are perfectly controllable.

"You have to remember that our company has one basic guideline for every android we produce: Create units that cannot violate the laws of Asimov! In addition to that there are additional rules that our androids cannot do each other harm. We've had enough slip ups with you and Koyomi model, Sakaki model, Kenji model, the fact that Yakumo model was built from parts of Sakaki model, and I'm sure none of us have forgotten the Defective Trio! This company doesn't need any more scandals caused by faulty or defective units," Eri concluded, hoping to silence Tomo's complaints.

Tomo noticed that during Eri's lecture Yomi looked away every time Eri had mentioned either an autonomous android or Asimov. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of this but she didn't care either. Overall she was in a bit of a rut. She had never quite gotten used to office life and now she was feeling less sure about all the hardships she'd endured. Tomo just decided to keep staring off into the bright cityscape as Eri continued to yell at her for not doing what was required of an executive.

Suddenly everyone in the boardroom was knocked onto the floor by a deafening explosion. Tomo hit her head against the wall causing her eyes to flicker. Eri lay on her stomach in disarray as she tried to contemplate the billowing, black smoke visible through the conference room window.

"_Ms. Mizuhara_!" cried an intercom crackling to life, "_we've just sustained damage from a car bomb outside the main security office. Armed men are rushing inside of the building from the street and from the basement! They've got automatic weapons, explosives and just opened fire on some of the security staff!_"

"Seal off as much of the building as you can!" Yomi commanded. "Don't let them get past the first floor. Get everyone to a safe spot as fast as possible!"

"_Jesus, they're shooting up the place!_" the radio responded. "_We'll try our best to do what you've asked Ms. Mizuhara, but we're in a lot of trouble. We're only meant to be able to deal with runaway machines, this is more than we can handle!_" the panicked voice replied.

"I know that," Yomi reassured him, "just do as much as you can until help arrives." The CEO of Maidens for Hire took in a deep breath as she got off the radio. The other members of the board stood around Yomi, shock visible on their faces, a few of them trembling at the news.

"Ms. Mizuhara, what are we going to do?" Eri screamed. "Our floor containment systems are meant to stop androids with above average human strength. There's no way they'll be able to deal with explosives! Whoever those people are will blast through that crap and kill all of us! We're doomed, we're doomed, we—"

"Knock it off!" Yomi snapped at her. "You think that I didn't know that? Come on all of you," she told the other executives in the room. "We need to hold together and get everyone to safety as soon as possible. Our employees, friends, and androids are counting on us to lead them through this crisis." The other executives looked down in embarrassment at how they had just behaved. "Besides we do have something we've been working on for just this kind of incident." Everyone else in the room was shocked by what they'd heard Yomi say.

"What are you saying?" Eri asked her.

"I want you and Tomo to follow me. The rest of you need to help in our evacuation efforts!" Yomi ordered. Tomo and Eri quickly followed their CEO down the hallway and deeper into the heart of the corporate building. People rushed by them in a panic as the three of them continued past the assembly line and into a part of the corporate office that Eri and Tomo hadn't seen before.

"Creator, where are we headed?" Tomo asked as they ran faster than they had before.

"We've recently started working on a new line of product," Yomi said with a rushed breath, "at the request of the DoD."

"The what?" Eri asked.

"Department of Defense," Yomi panted, "the U.S. Military. They asked us to be part of a trial program—" Yomi stopped talking for a moment to catch her breath. "For a new form of robotic warfare. You'll see in a sec…" At that point Yomi couldn't continue to run and talk at the same time. Tomo and Eri traded a nervous glance before they reached a large, impenetrable looking door. "It's in here," Yomi said in a breathless voice. She quickly punched numbers into the keypad located next to the door.

With a roar like an angry dragon the door slowly slid up into the ceiling until it disappeared from view. Inside was a well-lit room with a large container, and a number of dark black weapons neatly stacked in a rack. Near the container sat a variety of strange looking garments in military colors. Various dark green boxes sat on the floor towards the back of the container. Eri and Tomo were a bit freaked out by this sudden discovery and didn't know what to do for a moment. Yomi waved them inside and as the two of them stepped into the room the giant door slowly came back down to the floor.

"Inside of this container is an unnamed project," Yomi told Eri and Tomo. "This was designed to give the Department of Defense additional capabilities when they were low on man power in hostile countries. Originally we asked to help with simple exploration robots and the U.S. Army found our work to be satisfactory. However because of our Maidens for Hire line the DoD wanted to try something more. What I present to you now," Yomi told the two of them, as she typed on a keyboard near the container, "is what I like to call Warriors for Hire, android soldiers."


	2. Briefing the Soldier

"Android soldiers?" Eri asked, her voice sounded shocked and betrayed. "Why wasn't I told about this?" the vice president of the company asked.

"I wasn't sure if we would get the contract," Yomi told her. "So I didn't want to bother you with a product line that might not happen. I'm sure you understand." The CEO then went on to type more numbers into the keypad beside the container.

"You thought I would understand?" Eri's voice at a dangerous tone. "How would I understand not being told that we're manufacturing parts for the U.S. Army and that now we're making them robotic soldiers? How long has this been going on and is there anything else you haven't told me yet about this company?"

"Well technically this particular prototype isn't for the U.S. Army," Yomi cautiously replied, "it was designed for the USMC to assist during occupations, when they didn't have enough soldiers for, whatever it was they said these prototypes were for… I didn't quite understand all the military details, but; I knew how to make the technical aspects work flawlessly," she ended with an embarrassed and guilty look on her face. "I don't think there's anything else you don't know about the company, did I tell you about the plans to try marketing our Maiden line to North America and Europe or…" she asked, letting her question trail off into silence.

"Yeah we went over the logistics for the international idea," Eri replied, "and there just isn't enough in place right now to get the product lines to mainland Asia, let alone the other continents on Earth." She then took a moment to breathe. "I agree that the markets in Europe and North America would be very receptive to what we have to offer, but we just don't have the resources in place yet to— Why are we going over this right now? There are terrorists killing our people, does this prototype work or not?"

"According to what we were told by the USMC personnel the prototype met the standards," Yomi informed Eri and Tomo. "It did exceptionally well in all physical activities, more so than all the human participants involved. I don't quite remember how it did otherwise but until the police arrive this warrior is the best we have."

As Yomi finished her sentence the front of the container rose up into the air on hydraulic rams. Mist poured out of the dark open space as a large android stepped out. "I'd like to introduce you to our prototype Private First Class Ichigo Kurosaki Model-#15006017! 0331 Designation."

The android looked like a 6 foot tall man, with orange hair and a strange shirt that was a plain light brown on the torso, but the arms were a camouflage pattern of browns and sandy colors. His pants were in the same camouflage pattern as the arms of his shirt. Tomo was a bit surprised by the massive figure she saw before her eyes. Eri on the other hand was far less than impressed with what she saw.

"So you designed this android to be used by the U.S. Military, right?" the vice president of Maidens for Hire asked.

"That's right," both Yomi and the android answered.

"I was built with an extremely durable chassis able to withstand multiple hits from .50 caliber AP rounds, EMP resistant, shock proof, and able to withstand direct hits by rifle and hand grenades without losing the ability to function at 100% capacity," the Ichigo model told Eri. "I completed Marine Corps School of Infantry West at San Diego. From there I was—"

"Let me get this straight," Eri interrupted, "Yomi, you built a robot for a military program, that looks and sounds just like some anime character? What were you thinking, that's a terrible idea! This is supposed to be a serious, hardened, warrior machine and you made him into a 15 year old named after strawberries?"

"I know it sounds strange," Yomi told Eri, "but the USMC wanted an android that could support them in East Asia operations—"

"But you modeled him after a fricking anime character!" Eri snapped. "I can't even imagine that you were honestly taking this program seriously."

"Well a friend of mine loaned me a few of the manga volumes while the testing was coming up, and we hadn't quite decided on what the android would look and sound like so—"

Eri let loose a cry of frustration before she yelled, "I thought you were more serious than this. What on earth did the Marine Corps think when it saw the android we designed for them?"

"They were a little less than thrilled," Yomi admitted, "but the Marine Corps representatives were impressed by how Ichigo performed at hand to hand combat, their physical fitness test, and how fast he could utilize the techniques they taught him."

"You still shouldn't have made him look so ridiculous!" Eri cried in anger. "Let's just hope this model works for what we've got going on." Then Eri was puzzled for a moment. "I usually know what all the numbers in a model's serial number stand for, but what does 0331 mean?"

"Sorry Eri but that's classified," Yomi told her, causing Eri to growl in irritation.

"Actually Miss, that's not true," Ichigo informed all of them. "The MOS of 0331 is given to all machine gunners in the USMC. Even though I was technically trained on an automatic rifle, I did receive just as much instruction on the M240B. I was also instructed by some groups outside of the Marine Corps but I'm not authorized to tell you what they were."

"I have no idea what half of what you just said even means," Eri told Ichigo. "But if it means that you can defeat the terrorists that have taken over this building then who gives a crap that I didn't understand all that technical mumbo jumbo?"

"Wait, when did terrorists ever care about a robotic maid service?" Ichigo asked in a panic.

"It would be useful to fill him in about this now," Tomo told Yomi, who nodded in response.

"Listen Ichigo," Yomi began, "Maidens for Hire is under attack by an unknown group of terrorists. We believe that multiple employees have either been shot or taken hostage while we were working to reactivate you. We have no idea how many terrorists there are, how many people are injured, or how many people have died. By now the police have probably cordoned off the outside of the building and are preparing their SWAT teams to move in. But we've been shut off from the outside ever since we left the conference room to come down here. We need you to defend the employees and clear the building of all terrorists."

Ichigo stood there for a moment as the two women and the female android watched him intently. His right eye twitched for a moment before he responded to what Yomi had just told him. "Are you guys absolutely nuts?" he rhetorically asked. "Do you even know what I was trained to do?"

"Yeah," said Tomo, "you were like special forces right?"

"What? No," Ichigo replied, "I was not Special Forces, Special Forces are part of the army."

"Then you were Marine special forces or whatever," Tomo responded.

"First of all the terminology is SOF troops—"

"Soft troops?" Eri asked.

"There's no "T" in SOF," Ichigo replied. "And I was not part of MARSOC, nor FORECON, nor Marine Division Recon, and I wasn't a Scout Sniper. I may have spent a few years in Afghanistan, used the M240B and the M27 but that's a far cry from having the same skills as DEVGRU or Tier One types," Ichigo tried to explain.

"So you're afraid to fight these guys or what?" Tomo asked him.

"No," said Ichigo, "like hell I'd be afraid of a bunch of car bomber, IED types! It's just that I don't have the training to handle a hostage situation. I just don't think I'd be able to safely rescue hostages since my training didn't cover how to use surgical shooting precision to prevent civilian casualties. The closest I ever had to come to that was when I did a little PSD work in a convoy when we were ambushed. I didn't hit any innocent people, but there they were running and getting out the way before I even started firing," Ichigo explained. "If there are hostages around I just can't take part in clearing this building." Ichigo then looked at the weapon rack to his left. His eye twitched again in despair. "Wait a minute. We don't even have an M27 or a M240B do we?" he asked.

"We don't even know what either of those things are!" Eri snapped.

Ichigo sighed in desperation. Then he perked when he spied something lying towards the right end of the weapon rack. "Well at least we have one of these." Ichigo walked over and picked up a black rifle with a collapsible stock, pistol grip, and a strange triangular shaped piece of steel located towards the muzzle. "Oh my," said Ichigo, "this is a Colt 921 isn't it?" he said to himself, more than to the other three in the room. He continued to inspect the rifle in his hands. "Nice, SOPMOD stock, M68 CCO, RIS II, and some folding BUIS that I don't recognize," Ichigo said, listing off the features of the rifle in an impressed voice. "This is a pretty good piece of kit. Don't tell me you've also got these crates full of Cyre, CIRAS and HK?" he asked Yomi.

"Well when the man from the U.S. Army came to tell us about quality gear he mentioned those names," Yomi told him. "The man said he used them extensively in his counter terrorism career."

"Then he knew what he was talking about," Ichigo replied. "If he used this before then he must have been a Tier One type. You three try and talk to security while I inspect the rest of these crates to see what I have to work with."

While Ichigo started looking through the various supplies, Yomi managed to reach the security staff.

"_Ms. Mizuhara, where are you?_"

"I'm fine, tell me what's going on."

"_The good news was that no one had been taken hostage, or harmed outside of the initial carbomb_," the security officer told Yomi. "_But there are several people still trapped on the first floor, and we don't know how the people who were inside of the security are. The police have yet to cordon off the street because at least ten of the terrorists are outside shooting at the all of the officers outside. Luckily we can still utilize the security cameras and we've found 35 terrorists, all either in the basement or the ground floor. This, this is too much for us, Ms. Mizuhara. I don't know what to do!_"

"It'll be okay," Yomi said, to try and reassure him. "Just stay calm and let me know when something new starts happening, okay?"

"_R-right, we'll do our best!_" he told her.

"I'm counting on it," Yomi replied. She then turned to Ichigo. "Good news— wait, when did you change?"

She noticed that he was now dressed in a new type of camouflage. It had more greens, yellows, and even some orange-brown in its pattern. He also had on a strange square shaped garment that had a number of smaller rectangular shapes on it. On his left hip he had a pistol and a few more rectangular shapes, as well as what looked like a camo fanny pack. His rifle was slung across his chest using a tan colored sling. One of his hands held firmly onto the pistol grip, while the other was placed in front of the front sight of the rifle. On his head sat a tan colored helmet, with straps securing it underneath his chin.

"He did that while you were talking to that guy on the radio," Tomo told Yomi. "He searched through those boxes really quickly. Then he found all that shirt and pants, and put them on. He's pretty muscular from what I saw. After that he put that chest thing he called a plate carrier one, placed pouches on them, attached his holster, and put on his helmet. Then he started stuffing these black metal things with bullets, and stuffed them inside the pouches. He put his pistol in the holster and now he says he's all ready to go. It was kind of a strangely intricate process."

"Well it makes sense that he was able to look through the crates so efficiently," Yomi replied. "We utilized the butlers' dust scanner to give him enhanced target, and object identification. You'd be surprised how many of the maiden and butler systems we were able to utilize or adapt for this program. And unlike the maidens and butlers he doesn't have errors that cause him to shut down. His processor is three times more powerful than our standard maiden or butler, as well as five times more powerful than the average person with a 180 IQ. He's perfectly Unlike some of our earlier models, Ichigo has no troubles interacting with human beings and can perfectly mimic a real human being. No one outside of our representatives at the Marine Corps knew he wasn't a real human being."

"As impressive as that is," Eri told Yomi, "I think we should be worrying more about whether he can retake control of this building."

"Well since there are no hostages at the moment," Yomi informed everyone, "I think Ichigo will be able to handle what's going on."

"Normally I would do this with a platoon of Marines backing me up. Some to provide support and others to force our way in," Ichigo told the three of them, "but that can't be helped right now. So I'll just have to go and do what Marines do best."

"Kick back in a lounge chair and drink beer?" Tomo asked him.

Ichigo blinked for moment before he asked her "What who told you that?"

"Navy SEAL on TV," Tomo quickly replied.

"That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard," Ichigo responded. "But what infantry Marines do best is find the enemy, forget their names and kick ass."

"Don't Navy SEALs do that also?" Tomo asked, continuing to pester Ichigo.

Took in a sigh's worth of air before he responed, "Yes, they also do that," Ichigo grudgingly admitted.

"And don't they do it better too?" the woman android questioned.

"Look we don't have time for this," Eri told the two machines. "People are out there dying and there's no need for you two to be arguing over petty details. This incident has to be rapped up as soon as possible. Whoever these terrorists are and whatever they want, Ichigo, find them and eliminate them all."

"That's right Private First Class Ichigo Kurosaki Model-#15006017, 0331 Designation," Yomi said in a loud authoritative voice, "listen now and take heed. I want to know who this company's enemies are by the stains of crimson you leave where their lifeless bodies used to be. Now go out, search and destroy, search and destroy, let none of them leave the island of Honshu alive!"

"What the hell? That was another anime reference!" Eri complained to Yomi. "Stop doing that when we have such serious problems going on. Not to mention the fact that you are nothing like Sir Integra Hellsing!"

"Before we start arguing again I think it's best that I go out there and actually begin retaking the building from the terrorists," Ichigo told the two arguing executives. "First I do need to know what the terrorists are using. For that I'll just use my counter electronics suite in order to connect to the Maiden's for Hire security server." Ichigo then went over his gear once more as Tomo watched him in confusion.

"Wait a minute, when are you going to start using your communication hardware?" Tomo asked him.

"I'm using it right now," Ichigo replied. "Remember how my processor is 3 times more advanced than the latest generation of maidens? I can use my counter electronics and electronic snooping systems while still being able to fight at 100% capacity."

"Wow that's impressive," Tomo told him. "But you can't just go out there alone, what will the employees say when they see you?"

"I'll just say 'United States Marine Corps, get down!' That's what I did when I cleared houses in Afghanistan," Ichigo informed Tomo.

"Well I want to come with you!" Tomo told him. "I don't want to just stand around over here while people are in trouble. I'm a Maiden for Hire, and I was designed to give guaranteed service. That includes making sure that innocent people aren't out there being killed right under my nose!"

"Tomo, you can't come with me," Ichigo replied. "You're not built up to withstand gun shots from point blank range. You were never taught how to fight with a rifle, your boots and a don't quit attitude either." He saw Tomo pouting in disappointment. "Besides he said, the biggest problem is that you're running off of Asimov's 3 laws. With those in your system you won't be able to defend yourself or anyone else from these cold-blooded men. Anyways you can still help out by evacuating people to a safer location while I'm fighting them inside the building."

"I suppose," Tomo woefully admitted. "Just be safe out there."

"I didn't make it for three years in Operation Enduring Freedom just to get dismantled here," Ichigo said to reassure her."

"Yes please be careful Ichigo," Yomi told him. "Until the police are able to get downstairs you'll be the only hope for the people stuck on the ground floor and in the basement."

"Just worry about yourselves and the other employees," Ichigo told them. The door to his room began to open up with that same slow, aggressive sound. Before the tall, strong, robotic man stepped out to face the terrorists, he turned around to say one last thing. "What do I do if I run into any of the maidens or butlers? They'll be able to tell that I'm not a human being and they might try to slow me down or stop me."

"Don't worry about that," Yomi told Ichigo, "just get out there and save our people!"

"You got it boss." With that Ichigo stepped out from his secret room and into their own little warzone.


	3. Unexpected Delays

Ichigo moved slowly and carefully down the hallway. While he was able to use security camera feeds, he still scanned the hallway to make sure that he wasn't surprised by something the cameras had missed. As Ichigo exited the empty and dreary hallway he entered the repair bay of the Maidens for Hire building. Ichigo quickly got behind a crate to conceal himself from view and began to slowly scan as much of the room as he could. He held his rifle at the high ready, just incase the terrorists were closer than he thought.

Suddenly a face popped up from in front of the crate. "On the ground, United States Marine Corps!" Ichigo blared as loudly as his systems would allow. He heard the person give out a loud, feminine squeal before she disappeared from view. Ichigo's scanner then informed him that she was actually Kendra Model-#K363R1. He sighed in disbelief and then looked at the poor shivering female robot as she lay on the floor.

She was dressed in a red maid outfit and wore dark red shoes. Her hair was black, tied up in a bun and placed inside of a white bonnet, with pink ribbon tying it off and attaching it to her head. Ichigo saw her trembling in fear, with her delicate hands clasping the top of her head as she lay on the ground. He noticed her slowly open one eye. Then she stopped shaking and adopted a very irritated look.

"What on earth are you doing, unknown model?" Kendra asked him, her last two words robotic but everything else sounding like an angry 20 year old. "Don't just stand there dressed up as a soldier! You're the weirdest Butler I've ever met, and I helped test all of them. So why don't I remember you?" she asked, completely puzzled.

"My name is Private First Class Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo told her, "I'm a member of the United States Marine Corps and I need you and any other maidens or butlers to move to a safe location," the soldier commanded.

"You're not a soldier you're a robot like me!" Kendra snapped. "Where on earth did you get that getup anyways?" she asked Ichigo. "Besides you should know that we can't get out of the repair bay because security locked it off from the rest of the building. I mean they incorporated that feature ever since the Defective Trio escaped!"

"Never heard of that," Ichigo told Kendra. The female android stood there in disbelief, shocked by the weirdest Butler for Hire she had ever seen in her life. "Now then," Ichigo began, "tell me how many of you are still stuck in the repair bay."

"There are four more of us inside," Kendra informed Ichigo.

"Bring everyone out here then," Ichigo asked.

"How do you think you have the right to order me around?" Kendra yelled at the cybernetic soldier. "I don't take orders from machines that pose as hardened warriors," she said with a harrumph.

"Just bring them over here!" Ichigo snapped. _Man_, the android soldier thought to himself, _what's the deal with this girl? I might be new to how the others function and operate but I don't think they're supposed to act like this._ Ichigo watched Kendra call for the other androids. _She's so obnoxious_, the android soldier told himself. He saw the other four robots appear from behind various objects in the repair bay. The 5 androids then assembled into a line; there were two more maidens and two butlers that stood next to Kendra.

"Let me introduce everyone," Kendra began. "There's Lin Model-#P-516," as she said that Kendra pointed to a butler with black hair, a Tyrian purple suit jacket and a light grey pair of slacks. "Asha Model-#18810SH5," Kendra pointed towards a maiden with long, chestnut colored hair, a yellow maid outfit, and some thick-heeled brown shoes. "Mina Model-#M-493," Kendra pointed to a blonde maiden with pigtails tied off in black ribbons. She was dressed in a black maid outfit and had on stilettos. "And he's Hidetsu Model-#8366015, and a bit of a jerk."

"Why did you say that?" Hidetsu asked in an annoyed voice. "Just because I happen to mention that you're outdated every so often?" This butler was wearing a baby blue suit jacket and a dark pair of slacks. "I mean that's hardly a rude statement, it's a simple fact. You're a second generation maiden but they're already on the fifth generation. As a member of the latest, greatest third generation of butler I only thought you would understand."

"Come on you two!" Asha pleaded, "We don't need to start fighting right now when there are people being hurt in the adjacent rooms. Or at least I think they're being hurt. I can't hear or see any of them so I don't know for sure."

"I sure hope everyone is alright out there," Mina said, more to herself than the other androids.

"Don't worry girls," Lin told Mina and Asha, "I'll make sure that all of you are fine, during this horrific crisis."

"No one's going to fall for that!" Kendra snapped at the suave butler. "How stupid do you think we are? You'll just cower behind a materials crate like the rest of us!"

"Actually everyone is fine," Ichigo told the other androids next to him. "I'm looking at the security feeds right now and I don't see any hurt employees, other than one who bumped his knee on a filing cabinet."

"You can see the security feed?" Asha asked.

"Yeah its part of my counter electronics suite," Ichigo explained to her and the other androids. "With it I can see the security feeds, know which doors are open and where the largest sources of heat are in this building. That way once I get out there I can start kicking ass and getting these people the hell out of our building. All of you will be resting easy by the end of the day."

"Oh thank you," Asha and Mina told Ichigo, feeling a bit more comfortable.

"What a creep," Kendra said to herself, "who chooses to hit on girls when we're in the middle of a hostage situation? Talk about one smooth SOB." Her eyes then turned back to Ichigo, who was standing there with his hands firmly planted on his rifle. He had reached the nearest closed gate before Kendra had managed to catch up to him. "Just what do you think you're doing? You can't head out there, you can't even open the d—" She was stopped mid sentence by the sound of Ichigo lifting the door up with his hands. Kendra stuttered for a minute before she watched Ichigo step out of the repair bay and into danger. The heavy security door slowly fell back to the ground, leaving Kendra's nagging unanswered.

As Kendra continued to try and wrap her computerized mind around what she had just saw, Asha walked up to her and placed a hand on Kendra's right shoulder. "You shouldn't be so surprised," her fellow maiden told her. "He's a soldier, you can tell by the look he had in his eyes. Before I came in for repairs I was the maiden of an important general in the Self Defense Force. During that time I saw a bunch of hardened warriors, so I know that look. It wasn't that there was a lack of fear in his eyes but you could see that he was able to push through it to do what needed to be done."

"He can't be a soldier," Kendra said to Asha. "I mean if he's like us, or those two idiots," she quipped, pointing to Lin and Hidetsu, "he's running on the Asimov laws that prevent him from hurting people."

"But he's not like we are," Asha told Kendra. "I mean he could lift up that heavy steel door all by himself, and I'm not even sure that if we all pitched in that the five of us could hoist that thing an inch off the ground. Besides, he gets my pleasure mode all tingly," she added, her voice ending in a high pitch.

"What?" Kendra snapped, "How could they design a maiden that was so easy?"

"Kendra that wasn't nice at all!" Asha said in a hurt tone. "I'm not easy, or maybe I am and that's why I'm in the repair bay?" Asha then tapped her chin for a moment before she added, "It's just so hard to know since the technicians don't leave a diagnosis in our hard drives, only in their own system." The maiden then smiled for a moment. "He was so handsome, don't you agree?"

"No way!" Kendra cried in anger. "That guy wasn't handsome at all!"

"Oh come on," Asha told her in a playful tone, "you did keep your eyes glued on him the whole time he was here."

"Th-that was because I could have sworn he was just a butler dressed up to look like a Marine," Kendra quickly replied, blushing a little. "Don't forget that he threatened to shoot me when we first met, so I was naturally going to take issue with him!" she loudly exclaimed.

"Oh it's okay," Asha reassured her. "I couldn't keep my eyes off of him either. Heck, I think I saw Lin or Hidetsu eyeballing him a bit. The only one of us who didn't was probably Mina and we both know she was custom ordered to solely be a girlxgirl bot."

"Well at least I wasn't having to hold myself back from fawning all over him," Kendra retorted. "Now that I think about it you were staring at his butt an awful lot, Asha."

"Don't be so mean Kendra, I'm not dirty like that!" the brunette android beseeched. "My mind doesn't instantly jump to such carnal notions. I was only looking for a kiss, that's all. Though since you've brought it up, that might be fun to go all the way with a well built machine like him!"

"Now that you've said that I'm sure you're in the repair bay for an over active pleasure mode," Kendra groaned in despair.

"I guess the technicians could tone it down a bit, huh?" Asha awkwardly agreed with a lighthearted chuckle.

"You two are certainly having quite a bit of fun," Mina said to her fellow maidens, "I don't think you've talked to each other this much before we were being held hostage in our own headquarters. It's nice to see you two making friends with each other."

"But I was in standby mode for the past three days," Asha said in her defense, "I was only turned on because it might be necessary for my own personal safety. Just incase I needed to run away from some kind of threat or something."

"Sorry, I'd forgotten about that," Mina apologized. "If you don't mind my asking, what are we supposed to be doing right now? I know this is sudden and probably unexpected but there must be something we're expected to do at this moment."

"Our survival is tantamount since we can't fight back against the terrorists that have taken control of this building," Kendra informed her. "As always, if we see any employees or innocent people during this crisis, don't forget that we were designed to give guaranteed service. I think we all know what that means."

The other other robots nodded their heads in agreement.

"Only as long as you don't think of yourself as our group appointed leader," Hidetsu told Kendra.

"Not to mention how we should place a priority on taking care of the fairest maidens among our group," Lin added. "At the top of the list is Mina, followed by Asha and lastly there's Kendra."

Kendra's face turned red with rage. "You creep, how can you say something like that? Especially when the maiden you put at the top of the list doesn't even swing your way!"

"It doesn't matter whether she has feelings for me or not," Lin told Kendra, "all that matters is ensuring her safety to carry on the maiden legacy of beauty and elegance."

"None of us are gonna fall for all that line!" Kendra replied back. As Kendra continued to bellow at Lin, Asha looked away in embarrassment and Mina rolled her eyes. The five of them soon began arguing with each other.

As the group of robots continued their back and forth banter, Ichigo began moving down the hall way towards the nearest group of terrorists. He moved slowly and deliberately. His mind was focused on the task at hand and let all other distractions fall by the wayside. Up ahead Ichigo expected to run into a group of four terrorists two of which were armed but had their rifles slung limply at their sides. He figured that they would be the best group to hit first. Now he just needed to get closer and take them out.


	4. Letting

Ichigo stood in position, ready to attack the four men standing just down the hallway, a mere left turn away. He waited until he was sure that the four of them were distracted, too deep in conversation to be paying enough attention to the battlefield that surrounded them. Slowly the robotic soldier came around the corner. They all had their backs turned towards him. It wouldn't be long before Ichigo corrected their mistake.

He quickly moved towards the enemy in front of him, rifle raised and ready to fire. The muzzle of the Colt 0921 roared to life as Ichigo pulled the trigger. The first man the robotic soldier targeted had a rifle loosely slung against his body. 5.56 rounds zipped towards the man on the left, three hit him in the chest while four hit him in the lower abdomen. Ichigo watched his target fall the ground. The men in the middle started moving towards the nearest hallway as quickly as they could. Ichigo fired off six rounds at the man to the right of the group, before he could fire his AKM. The man fell to the ground, his rifle uselessly falling three feet away. Ichigo then fired off the rest of his 30 round GI mag at the last two, dropping them before they could escape.

The android soldier inspected the bodies of the men he had shot. Blood was starting to pool onto the floor from their wounds. Ichigo had already reloaded his rifle before making his way over to where the men were lying on the ground. He placed the muzzle of his 0921 over the still bodies, mechanically putting an extra hole in each of their heads.

Ichigo took a moment to check the security feeds after his brief run in with some of the terrorists. So far he didn't notice any movement among the 31 remaining terrorists. They did seem a bit more on edge than they had before so Ichigo wasted no time heading to his next objective; a terrorist appeared to be alone in a nearby restroom. He'd be a perfect opportunity to learn more about what had made them attack Maidens for Hire.

Yomi and Tomo sat in the room from which Ichigo had been revived. The two executives were busy worrying about what the three of them would do next. Maidens for Hire and its employees faced immanent danger. Considering how the police were still pinned down by the terrorist forces, everyone was relying on Ichigo to save them. But they didn't know for certain whether or not one lone robot could pull of their rescue. However the two of them couldn't come up with a satisfying decision about what their back up plan would be.

"I'm sure that if you reprogrammed me I could help stop these guys!" Tomo exclaimed earnestly to Yomi. "You need at least one other unit to back him up, right?"

Yomi grumbled for a moment in irritation before snapping. "Tomo that's ridiculous! Maidens were never meant to function to without strictly adhering to Asimov's 3 laws. Not only that but you can't even shoot a gun, and you don't know how to fight against people who have guns and are shooting at you! This isn't some kind of game or a dream, if you get shot by these terrorists you'll be destroyed and if that does happen, I can't do anything to save you. No matter how much I want to, no matter how much my eyes and heart scream out to me to help; I'd be killed before I could even begin removing the parts of you that had been broken!"

"Besides," Eri suddenly interjected, "there are people on the way who can take care of these guys." The two other executives turned around to see their blonde haired friend standing a bit more calmly than she had been earlier that day.

"What are you talking about?" Tomo and Yomi asked her.

"You're not the only one who has secrets she doesn't share with everyone," Eri told Yomi, with a sly smile. "My family knows more than a few people in useful places," she informed her friends. "Now I just heard from my brother that the U.S. Government is on the way to help take care of this little crisis."

"When did they decide to get involved in this?" Yomi asked her company's vice president.

"Since the Japanese government asked them for help," Eri told her. "So the 'world police' are sending the best counter terrorist troops they have this way. According to the information I was given they'll be here within ten hours."

"We could all be dead by then!" Tomo snapped at her sassy, blond boss.

"Most likely they'll be here long before that," Eri told her android coworker. "I mean it wasn't even September 12th before they had gotten into Afghanistan."

"Can you tell us who exactly is being sent over here?" Yomi asked.

"I'm not really sure," said Eri, "my brother only heard that the U.S. Navy has agreed to assist the Japanese government with our problem. Otherwise I know about as much as you do," she explained to the other two Maidens for Hire executives in the room with her.

"Well let's hope they get here soon," Tomo said. "Just in case Ichigo isn't strong enough to take care of everything on his own." Eri nodded her head in agreement.

"You need to have more faith in Ichigo," Yomi told the two of them. "After all he did earn a Bronze Star for Valor while he served in Afghanistan." Yomi saw the two of them look at her with interest. "Ichigo's platoon was hit by IEDs as they were on patrol. After the explosions they were attacked by a group of insurgents and were pinned inside of a town with only a few light vehicles to use as cover. During that incident Ichigo manned the M240B attached to the roof of a HMMWV and covered the rest of his platoon's escape. About the time that half of his platoon had made their way into some better cover the HMMWV was hit by an RPG. Thanks to our unique armor system Ichigo was completely unharmed, but the driver of the HMMWV had been unable to get out and was bleeding severely. Ichigo then moved him out of the line of fire before his platoon began targeting and eliminating enemy positions in the town. For the rest of the day he was kicking in doors and clearing rooms to take out enemy snipers and machinegun nests. Three of his squad mates were killed during the fighting and Ichigo carried all of their bodies back to the extraction point. By then it was 11 at night and the Marines were relieved by U.S. Army Rangers who reclaimed the town by 6 AM the next day."

"That guy did all that?" Tomo asked her, "no way. I mean he's so weird and touchy about every part of this whole terrorist incident."

"It's because Ichigo knows the truth behind the saying, 'Only fools rush to their deaths.'"

"Who came up with that line?" Tomo said to her bespectacled creator.

"Probably the same people who are on their way to clear this building of the terrorists who have taken control of it," Yomi told her cybernetic creation. "The Navy's most elite military unit, DEVGRU's Red Team."


	5. A Sudden Request

In the repair bay of the Maidens for Hire corporate office the five android servants that Ichigo had met were hiding inside of a large cargo container. Despite the serious air that filled the space in which they all hoped to wait out the dire situation, the group was quite distracted. Mina stood in silence as she watched Kendra and Hidetsu arguing again over whether one of them was an outdated model. Asha was trying her best to get the two of them to be quiet incase any of the terrorists had managed to make it into the repair bay. Lin simply stood by the entrance to the cargo container, eyeing Mina in a way that made her feel irritated and a bit upset.

"Come on Kendra!" Asha whispered as loudly as she dared, "just stop arguing with this guy so that we don't make a lot of noise!" she ended her request with a shaky and anxious voice, one filled with apprehension.

"Then tell this asshole to stop being a prick for just this once and shut his hole!" she snapped in a low voice. "I've had to deal with his insults all day and if I wasn't forbidden to by my programming I would kick him until he needed an extensive warranty repair!"

"Now isn't the time for this though!" Asha responded, "can't you just wait until Ichigo's dealt with the terrorists and we're not in immediate danger?"

"Yeah you outdated calculator," Hidetsu quietly quipped, "you're putting all of us in danger with your foolish sense of pride. But what else could we expect from an aging piece of scrap electronics?"

"Please Hidetsu," Asha pleaded in a whisper, "just stop badgering Kendra for the rest of today so that we'll be a little safer. These petty arguments can be put on hold until then alright?"

"I'm not going to back down unless he promises to hold his tongue!" Kendra snapped, her voice at almost the same volume when she'd been arguing with Ichigo.

"Kendra not so loud!" Asha told her in a more irritated whisper than before.

"Fine, fine," the older maiden replied.

"I guess that means I've won this round," Hidetsu smugly claimed. "No one can defeat me in a verbal battle, and even in a sparring match I think it'd be hard to handle my modern defensive programming."

Before Kendra could berate at the arrogant android the door to the cargo container was violently and loudly opened. The five machines froze for a moment. Lin was knocked out of the way as a dark shape stood in the doorway of their hiding spot. Everyone was silent for a moment before their ears were assaulted.

"Will you idiots stop making such a ruckus?" the dark shape snapped at them. The androids optical sensors needed a moment to adjust before they could make out who was telling them off.

"Tomo?" Kendra rhetorically asked before giving a slight bow to the only Maiden for Hire with a management level position. "Hello, Tomo Model #86662426, what brings you—?"

"I could here the three of you arguing from all the way across the repair bay without even having my audio systems on the sensitive setting!" she told the group inside the cargo container. "On a side note, you all need to get out of here and follow me, Sawachika, and our creator to the upper floors of this building."

"What?" Hidetsu asked, "isn't that practically suicide during an event like this?"

"Well, well," Kendra exclaimed, "seems like the most modern generation of butlers has a bit too much cowardice programmed into them. At least those of us 'inferior' models don't have fear overwhelming us."

"Oh can it you hunk of scrap!"

Tomo was just about to yell at the two of them to knock it off when another voice suddenly bellowed, "I thought you were told to knock that shit off!"

The robots attention was drawn towards this voice that suddenly came out of nowhere. In a few moments they saw a blonde woman with long pigtails standing in front of their hiding place in a smart business suit. None of them needed to be told who this was, Eri Sawachika, the vice president of Maidens for Hire. They all bowed before greeting her.

"Good afternoon Ms. Vice President," they began. "It's a pleasure to meet—"

"No time for formalities!" Eri snapped, "we need to get moving and get everyone to safety." From behind her Yomi stepped inside of the cargo container. The five androids were in shock that she was so close that they didn't know how to respond.

"Creator?" Mina timidly asked, "what are you and these other two executives doing here when there's such a great danger of being harmed?"

"We can't just hide during the middle of a crisis!" Tomo informed her robotic cohorts. "So the three of us are evacuating all the fully assembled maidens and butlers to where the majority of our employees are being evacuated by helicopter. And since you're the only ones who fit that description that means our task is almost halfway done."

"Now stop just standing around and let's get a move on!" Eri yelled.

After they had exited the container Yomi called all of them over back into the room where Ichigo had been activated. The five robots from the repair bay stood in shock at where they were standing. None of them had expected to see a room like this inside of the Maidens for Hire corporate office. Tomo stood next to Eri near the pod that had contained the android soldier looking at the five robots that stood in a loose line before the founder of the company.

"Before we go up to the other employees and the helicopter pad I have one thing that I want to ask all of you," Yomi told Lin, Hidetsu, Asha, Mina and Kendra. "It's impossible for Ichigo to defeat all of the terrorists inside this building." She saw the looks of shock on their faces. "There are simply too many for him to handle all alone. He is almost guaranteed to be completely destroyed if he suffers a direct hit to the torso by an RPG or similar weapon. To put it bluntly, he's hopelessly outmatched but despite knowing this he willingly continues to fight them to buy us a little more time. Now this leaves me to make a very difficult request. It is possible for me to make each of you independent of the limitations that Asimov's laws place upon you and install Ichigo's combat data into your CPUs."

"She can't do that with me," Tomo told the five androids hearing this information, "since my original memory system was scrapped when the production models of Maidens for Hire were created. All of you run on an improved mainframe with an incompatible architecture and Ichigo shares this same basic system. On top of that, because of my older designs I can't fight at the same level of hand to hand combat as all of you can, it's the reason I couldn't stop Keiji Model when he was on his rampage all by myself."

Yomi nodded her head, drawing back the attention of the five production model units. "However there are certain problems with retrofitting you to become mock Warriors for Hire. The first is that you can't be reverted back into regular maidens and butlers after this whole ordeal is over, that means you'll have to be scrapped or permanently deactivated depending on the circumstances. Secondly, altering your internal software and OS this significantly could cause serious malfunctions and fatal errors that could show up at any time during this conflict. Finally, none of you are hardened or have the same armor systems that Ichigo does. If you get hit by an enemy rifle or pistol round, the bullet will go straight through your delicate electronics and structural systems. Therefore I'm asking who among you wants to undergo this procedure. I don't expect all of you to participate in this exercise, in fact I forbid it. Maidens and butlers were never meant to act as soldiers and the only reason that I'm allowing this now is because of the severity of the circumstances. So I ask you, who's willing to die today for Ichigo and to buy us some more time?"

The five androids stood there in shock, taking a moment to reflect on the gravity of Yomi's question. None of them were quite ready to reply to her request but one of them was going over it hard in her mind. Kendra stood on the end of the line closest to the door, deep in thought. In her mind the events of the day began to play back and forth.

She'd finished charging right about the time that the head mechanic had gotten ready to leave for lunch. After the two of them had a brief conversation, Kendra stood alone in the empty repair bay, waiting for someone to talk to. An hour or so had passed before she suddenly heard the emergency broadcast that terrorists were attacking them. She'd also received a special message via her email system that she needed to activate all of the maidens and butlers who hadn't suffered any mechanical damage or were missing any parts. After doing this Kendra had informed all of them about what she knew and all of them had gone to hide in what each of them felt was the best spot. She wasn't sure how long she had crouched inside of that open container before hearing shouts and running. That made her try to press against the very bottom of her place of refuge until the sounds faded away. It had seemed like an even longer time before she'd felt the need to poke her head up from inside the box and that was when she'd first met Ichigo.

From there the two of them hadn't gotten along, mostly because of their initial meeting and Kendra's irritation at who she had thought was a butler for hire trying to mess with her. There was no reason for her to risk anything to help him. She didn't need to go out into such a dangerous environment to later be disposed of by the company. So why was it that she felt she had to go out there and face what was certain to be her demise? It wasn't logical. And yet it felt like the right thing to do even if she wasn't quite sure why. Yes, this wasn't what she needed to do, it was what she had to do. Now Kendra just wanted to say—

"I'll do it," Mina said before Kendra could.

"No, let me do it!" the second oldest maiden in the room begged.

"Kendra," said Hidetsu, "why don't you let Mina do it inste—"

"No, this is something I have to do," Kendra told him. "As you keep reminding me, I'm an outdated maiden and not just because I'm running an old OS. You see the whole reason I was used to test each butler and not used as a maiden by the company is because part of my software is defective. When I first tried out with a client I was sent back because he felt I was too bossy. The next three clients felt the same way as he had. The technicians took a look at my systems and determined that my personality had been improperly programmed with the attitude parameters being a little too far out of whack. They tried to fix it and they couldn't, my systems just kept reverting to those settings.

"I wasn't considered so far gone that I should be torn down for parts but I wasn't able to be a maiden for hire either. For a few years I was simply placed on standby and kept at the Yagami branch for safe keeping. When the Vice President began to experiment on the butlers for hire project, I was used to determine if the prototypes were able to augment a maiden's usefulness. From there I was used to be a quality control assurance for each and every butler, partly because of the fact I'm a maiden and partly to make sure each butler could stand an uppity personality. However the technicians decided to ship me back here since for the next generation of butlers they plan to just utilize more advanced coding to ensure they fit the bill.

"This is why I'm the one who should be retrofitted for this, it doesn't matter what happens to me!" she madly exclaimed.

"Kendra, you don't have to…" Hidetsu began before being cut off by Mina.

"I want to be retrofitted as well," Mina requested, "you see I know some of the staff who are still in danger in the lower levels of the building. I can't just leave those friends of mine in that situation without someone to help them!"

"I deny that request," Yomi told Mina.

"But why?" the blonde cyborg asked, "the company needs as much help as it can—"

"I said no!" Yomi snapped. Mina became quiet and looked at the ground in silent distress. "You're already scheduled to be delivered as a custom model and we have a guarantee on those units I won't risk." The president of the company took a moment to breathe before adding, "there's no need to risk having three of my creations being destroyed by these thugs! I hope you understand."

"I don't," Mina said quietly, "but I won't go against your wishes either, creator."

"Thank you, Mina," Yomi said in a calm voice. "Now Kendra, please step inside of the pod, I'll begin reprogramming you in there." Yomi watched as the android walked over to begin the process. She wasn't entirely sure that this decision would help the situation at all but there weren't too many other options if the Navy couldn't get inside their office before Ichigo was overwhelmed by the odds stacked against him.

As Kendra entered the pod she began to think more about the decision she had made. The procedure she was about to undergo would be, in way or another, the end of her life. _Why am I doing this?_ Kendra asked herself, _this is crazy! I don't even know if this will help any of us. _However the weight of the decision didn't deter her from following through with her choice. _I can't believe I'm helping him after all of the fighting we went through. Not to mention the fact that he first greeted me by threating to shoot my CPU out of my head! _Kendra took in a long, deep breath before giving a thin, bitter smile. She didn't really regret anything about what she was doing, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. _That stupid Ichigo, he owes me big time for this!_

Asha watched Kendra through the glass of the containment pod. She saw her LED eyes turn different shades of green, blue, purple, and orange as she heard Yomi pounding away on the keyboard at a phenomenal speed. Asha turned towards the other three androids she'd been with since the terrorists had taken control of the building. "I can't believe you two!" she angrily yelled at Lin and Hidetsu. "When both Mina and Kendra volunteered for this you two just stood there like a bunch of spineless jellyfish!"

"Hey come on," Hidetsu replied, "I mean sure I was making fun of her before but, I never thought she'd take any of my comments that seriously. Weren't you a little bit shocked that she decided to do this?"

"Well yeah," Asha told him, "but why didn't one of you two ask to be retrofitted like Kendra? Especially you Mr. Über Model!"

"I just, I didn't—" Hidetsu began.

"Enough," Eri Sawachika told the two of them. "There's no reason to argue over this now," she informed them. "Now we just need to begin moving towards the secured part of this building once Kendra has been sufficiently reprogrammed. After she finishes providing our security during the evacuation she will go and locate Ichigo to help him secure this building, at least until the Navy arrives. What we need to do now is make sure that everyone safely gets out of this building via helicopter, we'll just need to pray for the people still trapped in the basement and parking complexes."

"_Ms. Mizuhara!_" the radio crackled to life, "_the terrorists have captured the remaining employees!_"

Everyone in the room was silent. Tomo and the other androids faces looked as if they didn't quite know what to do or how to feel about this recent development. Quiet curses could be heard from Yomi who kept typing, gritting her teeth in anger at what she had just learned. Eri then replied to the radioman. "This is Ms. Sawachika, how many people have been taken hostage by the terrorists?"

"_There are three groups of hostages, the first is a group of eight, located near the electrical systems for the building. Another group of 12 hostages is in the elevator control rooms, while the final group of hostages has 11 people in the shipping area,_" the man told Eri and Yomi. "_What should we do about this?_"

"Keep monitoring the situation and report any additional information to us," Eri told him, "if anything changes we need to be told about it as soon as possible."

"_There's also some unknown man wandering around shooting at the terrorists!_" the radioman told the two executives. "_What should we do about this development?_"

"Keep monitoring that situation too, let us know if anything else develops," Eri replied. "Unless something else comes up stay quiet, just incase the terrorists are listening to our conversations. We'll be alright as long as everything else goes according to plan. You're doing a good job, keep it up."

As Eri finished her conversation with the radioman, Tomo responded to this sudden development. "Eri, what are we gonna do? What if they start killing our employees?"

"I don't know," Eri told her robotic coworker. "We just have to hope that Ichigo can take care of everything or that the Navy will get here already and take care of this problem!"

"What about the NPA?" Tomo asked Eri, "why can't they do anything about this attack?"

"I'm not sure," Eri replied to Tomo, "so far it seems that they haven't brought in the SWAT troops, maybe they're waiting for the Navy to arrive to back them up? Or perhaps their waiting for the SDF's SFG?"

"Whatever it is they'd better do something soon, we don't know what will happen to those poor people trapped down there!" Tomo yelled, almost at the point of hysteria. "I mean some of those people are friends of mine, I just, I just don't—"

"There's nothing we can do!" Eri snapped. "We just have to wait for the people whose job it is to take care of this to get here. Try to stay calm until that happens, it won't help anyone to get upset and freak out while their lives are in danger."

Tomo became quiet when she heard this reply, it wasn't exactly satisfying but nothing about today had been.


	6. The Struggle to Hold On

The roof of Maidens for Hire was a buzz with activity as three corporate helicopters were in a frenzied state of panic, trying to lift off with as many passengers as they dared. Dust billowed around everyone remaining on the rooftop, discoloring their clothes with a light tan colored fog. Only the twelve company executives were left waiting for a helicopter to come back and evacuate them from the horror show their day had become. As the three helicopters began to rise up into the blue sky Eri noticed a bright orange spot blaze right past them into the clear blue sky.

"What the hell was that?" Eri yelled at the top of her lungs. She watched as three more orange points shot up towards the helicopters. It was only a few moments after she saw them shoot up before she was knocked to her feet and her ears rang with pain. She breathed in a few breaths that made her gag on a horrible tasting dust that seemed to fill the air. Eri looked around and saw a huge portion of the edge of the roof broken up and crumbling. As the ringing in her ears began to subside Eri could hear people screaming around her.

Everyone was pointing towards one of the helicopters that was spinning out of control and plummeting towards the ground. The other two machines were flying off in different directions as quickly as they could to escape from the dangerous environment they had found themselves in. A distant crash sounded somewhere in the streets below and Eri felt her gut tighten as if she had tried to use it to strangle an evil serpent. It took a moment for Eri's mind to register what had just happened. Dammit Yomi! she screamed inside her head. You shouldn't have sent us up here without Kendra, what made you think that would be a good idea? As Eri ran a hand against the side of her face she felt something sticky and thick against her skin. The vice president of Maidens for Hire quickly glanced at her palm, it was a dark crimson, like a butcher's cleaver that had been at work all day with a thin line of dried blood just below the top of the blade.

In the middle of what had once been a small furniture department store, the shot down helicopter was lying in a shambles. Four small figures moved about in the rubble, searching for survivors and trying to call for help. When the helicopter had been struck by the RPG the four androids from the repair bay had done their best to hold onto the doors and keep people from being thrown out while the rotor wing had spun about in mid air. The crash had torn the fuselage apart when the nose of the helicopter ploughed through the wall of a small store. None of the robots were quite sure how they hadn't been seriously damaged during the impact, but they wasted no time trying to help the injured employees.

"Did you hear that?" Mina asked Asha. "I think it came from the back of the store!"

Asha listened closely, eventually discerning the sound of a faint plea for help. "Yeah, I hear it," she replied. "Let's go check it out!"

The two of them moved as quickly as they dared in the cataclysmic scene towards the sound of a man whose left arm and right leg were trapped under pieces of concrete. Asha hoisted the debris off of the man's arm and threw it onto a bare section of the floor. She then bent over to try and lift up the piece that was pinning the man's leg down but she couldn't get it to budge. Mina noticed the difficulty she was having and stooped over to lend her a hand, however this wasn't quite enough. The two of them put as much power into their arm rotors as they could, but they just couldn't get the object to budge. Asha and Mina continued to struggle when Hidetsu suddenly appeared to lend them a hand; they managed to remove it from on top of the man's leg but only just.

The three robots took a moment to rest before the sound of heavy footsteps approached from the direction of the Maidens for Hire building. All three of them stayed as quiet as they could. It wouldn't be difficult for a group of terrorists to finish them and the injured employees off. Mina carefully poked her head around the corner to see Lin walk up to the hole in the wall. The tension that had filled the air was slowly draining away as Mina watched Lin head towards her. For a moment things seemed to be getting better and it was as if Mina could finally relax a bit after what had happened to the company and her friends.

As Lin stepped foot through the building his head burst into a thousand small circuit boards and plastic shards before a deafening sharp crack assuaged his friends ears. Asha's mouth reflexively fell open as she saw the rest of him torn to pieces by the sound of automatic gunfire. Hidestu grabbed a hold of Mina and pulled her back away from the opening. The three listened to the sickening crunch of their android friend being ripped apart by bullets. None of them could believe what was happening right then.

When did the streets become so dangerous? Mina asked herself. I thought all of the dangerous people were inside of the factory, not outside and several blocks away! How do we get out of this nightmare when it's all around us?

After what seemed like centuries the bullets stopped zinging through the air and a gut wrenching silence filled the audio systems of each of the three remaining androids. The eerie atmosphere was starting to drive them insane as the anticipation of destruction and death had begun to take its toll on Asha, Hidetsu, and Mina. Machines designed to help and care for people, to be able to teach children to read, and to be the friends of whoever had paid for them. They didn't stand a chance of lasting in this madness that suddenly appeared. As the building caved in on itself Hidetsu looked up at the falling mass that the ceiling had become. He'd never expected things to turn out like this but somehow it seemed fitting, though he wasn't sure why.

Tomo was standing on the roof of the Maidens for Hire corporate office when she saw the building that the helicopter had crashed into crumble to dust, in an instant. She heard people screaming all around her. Some were bleeding profusely while others were lying on their backs, stricken with panic or pain. The robotic executive felt a hand pull down on her right sleeve. She turned her head to Eri kneeling next to her in a state of shock. Tomo could hear her friend whispering in a stilted and struggling voice as her hands gripped the android's sleeve like a vice.

"You have to…" Eri faintly whispered.

"Come on Eri, you need to save your strength," Tomo pleaded.

She watched as her friend slowly shook her bloodied head before saying, "you have to get them out of here," Eri pointed towards the others lying on the roof. "You're the only one of us who can still move, that's why you have to do it," said Eri, her voice barely audible through the screams from the people trapped on the roof. "I don't have much time left."

"What?" Tomo snapped, "What are you saying?"

"You need to make sure everyone is safe, even if I, I…" the sound from Eri's throat slowly dwindled down setting Tomo into a panic.

"Eri! You're going to be fine, don't joke around with me like this. This isn't funny!" the android told her blonde friend.

Eri took in a deep, shaky breath before she started talking again. "Tomo, you might have been a pain in my neck sometimes but… you're one of the best friends I ever had. Please, let Harima know that I, I L…"

Tomo felt the grip on her sleeve loosen. For a brief moment she was completely silent, looking at the unblinking eyes of her boss and dear companion. "Eri? Come on Eri this isn't happening. You'll be alright okay?" Tomo looked at the unresponsive body lying on the hard concrete. "Get up!" she screamed, "get up, get up! Dammit you can't do this to us! You can't die Eri! You're not dead, now get up!" Tomo then grabbed onto her friend's shoulders. "Get up goddammit! I can't lose you too! Not you too…" her voice trailed off into intense and powerful shrieks that seemed to come from an angry predator, howling for its cubs with only the smell of death all around.

In the basement of Maidens for Hire Ichigo had managed to get ahold of one of the people who had terrorized them. Now that he had the chance, it was time to get some answers.


	7. Poisonous Snares

Ichigo had managed to capture one of the terrorists that had attacked Maidens for Hire. The man was dressed in jet black clothing and had his hands zip tied behind his back, against a toilet bowl. His right hip had a small 9mm pistol and he wore a chest rig that allowed him to carry several AK magazines. When Ichigo had quietly entered the room he'd seen the terrorist with his back turned and his rifle lying on top of the restroom sink counter. It'd been easy to capture him and now the robotic soldier was soon to learn a bit more about these nefarious people.

"Hey," Ichigo said in an irritated voice, "don't try and act like you're about to fall asleep. You need to tell me anything I wanna know. If I hear anything funny out of you, like a cry for help or an attempt to warn the rest of your asshole friends, you'll get more than a few M855 drilled into your skull. Understand?" Ichigo noticed the man nod his head slowly. "Good. First off, what's your name?"

"Dur," the man replied in a low, thick voice.

"Is that so?" Ichigo asked, a bit surprised to hear this. "What's your full name? I don't have time to hear anything else."

"Abdurrahman Alatas, I am from Indonesia," he told the robotic soldier, "we are the Anti-Robotics League of Southeast Asia. There are many of us both here and in places where we will never be found."

"Don't be so cocky," Ichigo snapped. "You don't have the foresight to know whether men like me can track you deep into the shadows. I'm sure your group hasn't forgotten what happened to so many terrorist groups before you and history has a knack for repeating itself." The android soldier noticed that Dur didn't respond to the comments he had made. Instead he simply stared at Ichigo with a look of disgust and hardened resolve. "Tell me, why did your group attack this place?"

"These horrid machines are taking over," Dur replied. "It wasn't long ago that these things, maidens for hire as they're called, began to appear and infiltrate the populace. A man can't tell these things apart from another human being; it is like some form of unholy creature that takes on the guise of a person. Children are being raised by machines and not people; while young men and women are falling for these automated monstrosities instead of each other. Not only this but now this company has begun to take preorders for machines shaped like children. Instead of asking people to raise fellow human beings, this corporation is asking couples to ignore orphans for cold, soulless objects!" he took in a deep breath before going on.

"Not only that but these machines are being used more and more often as tools of murder by the corrupted leaders of your Western world. Only a few days ago, a group of fellow fighters was targeted and destroyed by one of your government's stealth bomber drones. We sifted through the foul, burning rubble only to find corpses and have the stench of singed flesh in our noses. Faces crackled and blackened until only bones remained, not just men but women and children too! Your CIA murderers stole them from us, and for what? Even in your own country these same people spy on you with drones and other machines, yet you still choose to fight for them? What kind of man could allow himself to be used in this way?" Abdurrahman waited for Ichigo to respond but heard no reply. The two of them waited in silence for a few moments, expecting the other to speak. Finally, Ichigo broke the still air with another question.

"Where did your group gather all these weapons and fighters from?" the robotic soldier asked.

"There were some old supplies located all throughout the continent and on islands from Kamchatka to Sri Lanka," Dur told him. "For the most part we could just buy the items and move on. However, in some places we needed to be a bit more forceful. When we went to the Philippines we got into a skirmish with the Al-Qaida types and after three days and several thousand rounds it ended up being quite the victory for us. We managed to seize a thousand pounds of munitions and explosives. Some items we even managed to order directly from local weapons manufacturers, though it was all done in a secretive manner. Each and every one of us is outfitted with the most modern AK103 rifles, as I'm sure you noticed.

"As far as where we get our fighters from, they come from wherever people have grown tired of machines. I came out of a life of working in the computer factories seeing men and women losing hands and their lives, crushed and obliterated by those heartless machinations. They've only begun to murder us, think of what would happen if this company were to spread across the glo—"

"Yeah, spare me the _Terminator_ bullshit," Ichigo told him. "How many fighters do you have, how many hostages are being held in here?"

"Hostages?" Abdurrahman asked Ichigo, "what hostages? I didn't see anyone and aside from the men in the security office we haven't seen or killed anyone else. Our fight is against these machines and we have no desire to hurt fellow human beings unless it is necessary. That's why we attacked during the lunch break because we knew that the smallest number of employees would be put in danger."

"How did you know when this was going to happen?" Ichigo asked him in a calm tone.

"We have agents that bring us that sort of information," Dur told Ichigo. "It was thanks to their help that we were able to pull off this operation so effectively. Now that everything has been put in place there's no way for you to stop us. It will be a glorious victory and you and your CIA team will only taste defeat."

"Cut the melodrama," Ichigo snapped, "who are the agents that are working for you terrorists?"

"We're not terrorists!" Abdurrahman yelled in outrage. "We're working to save the human race from the threat of machines. Killing people isn't what our group is after nor money. All I want is for machines to stay powerless and not be a danger to mankind!"

"I said to tell who your agents are," Ichigo told him in a dangerous tone, "or else I'll start getting angry. Are you sure you want to see that side of me?"

"What difference does it make?" Abdurrahman rhetorically replied. "You won't stop us from carrying out our plan and I don't even know who the agents are or if they're inside this building anymore! There's nothing you or your team can do to stop us, even if we don't destroy you first."

"That's great," Ichigo told Dur in a sarcastic manner. "I'll be sure to make a note of that for my report and to give your section an extra star for information letting." The robotic soldier took a moment to check over all of his gear before he was ready to leave. As soon as he had finished putting a gag in his prisoner's mouth and placing a cloth bag over his head, Ichigo closed the door to the stall and carefully moved towards the nearest group of terrorists.

Not much could be heard as the android stepped out into the hallway and began to head in the direction of a small shipping room where he could see four terrorists on through the security feeds. Ichigo stood outside the door into the room, taking a few extra moments to monitor what the enemy inside was up to before he decided on how to proceed. The four men were busy rummaging through the crates in that facility, tearing off lids and causing packing to spew onto the floor. The lack of audio feeds made it difficult for him to get a sense at what was going on inside the room but Ichigo didn't want to waste valuable time. These four were much more focused than Abdurrahman had been and even though he was built up to be impervious to the rounds in their AK-103s, it never did pay to be stupid when engaging the enemy.

Ichigo quietly opened the door before bringing his rifle to bear and firing off three shots at the man facing him from across the small room. The android tracked the man as he fell to the ground after taking three hits to his upper torso, falling behind a crate and out of his view. Ichigo then waited a moment to see if the man poked his head back up. During that brief pause bullets started to fly from Ichigo's left and into the doorframe and wall behind him. The sound of concrete being shattered and the sight of the door falling over and turning into shrapnel made Ichigos let go of his rifle reach into one of the pouches around his waist. He felt the hard object inside and brought it out into the dingy fluorescent light. Ichigo pulled the pin off of the grenade he had removed from his pouch. The android took a moment to hold the explosive in his hand before he lobbed it inside of the room.

The wall shook slightly from the force of the explosion. In that brief moment of opportunity, the robotic warrior rushed into the room and opened fire on the two men still standing. One man was instantly put down by the four rounds Ichigo had sent his direction. The other man opened fire and made five direct hits on Ichigo's plate carrier. Ichigo felt the strong hit from each of those rounds but none of them even made it through the armor he had placed inside. Not an instant was wasted as the android quickly put three shots into the last man, watched him slump to the floor, and put one shot into his head. He treated each of the other three bodies in a similar fashion, cold and efficient.

After policing the bodies and checking over his supplies, Ichigo noticed that there was a difference in how the remaining terrorists appeared on the security feeds. They seemed a bit more on edge and restless than they had before. Not only that but a larger group of twelve or so was headed towards the shipping area. However the android soldier had a plan in place before he had made his attack. A maintenance hallway was next to the foot of a nearby staircase. He was fairly certain that they wouldn't look for him there and that he could then go through that area to get closer to where the bulk of them were still located. From there he would try to learn a little more than the sparse information he had managed to gain from Abdurrahman.

Only darkness and his own heartbeat marked the passage of time for Dur. The sound of distant gunfire and a dull thud made the man feel a sudden desperation and anger. When the sounds of battle disappeared in a moment Dur felt dread sink into the pits of his stomach. For what felt longer than the time it took to watch your friend fall off a cliff in front of your very eyes, Abdurrahman sat in darkness and silence, waiting. Suddenly his ears were assaulted with the sound of heavy boots moving quickly towards where he was tied up against a toilet. Panic set in as he imagined that red headed CIA agent returning with the rest of his team to torture and execute him. He heard the door to his stall open and his heart skipped a beat in panic.

"Dur?"

Abdurrahman felt confused and worried. This person in front of him was a friend he had made while fighting alongside the ARLSA troops.

"Dur! What happened to you? Let me get you out of here, you must have seen who attacked us earlier!"

Bright light suddenly met Abdurrahman's gaze as the bag was removed from his head. He saw the face of his friend Ouyang, a former PLA soldier and someone who had helped him fight and kill a number of terrorists from all across Asia. Dur felt his gag removed from his mouth. His mouth was extremely dry, almost like cotton, after having that thing in it for so long. He tried to lick his lips and felt his tongue almost stick to them. Now Dur's anger had risen to the surface and once his hands were untied and his feet were unbounded he went looking for his rifle. He found the rifle sitting across the top of one of the toilet seats in a nearby style, with the magazine submerged in the water of the bowl. One of the other fighters handed him a spare rifle. Dur checked the weapon to see if it was loaded. He turned to see that a number of men stood around him, anxious expressions on their faces.

"What happened to you?" Ouyang asked him.

"Fucking CIA bastards are here," Abdurrahman told him. "One of them snuck up behind me and tried to get me to squeal like a dying piglet. These fuckers must be the ones killing the other fighters."

"We've seen helicopters landing on the roof, infantry leader Ouyang," one of the other fighters suddenly stated. "Perhaps they're using those to bring troops inside the building?"

"I wouldn't put it past them," Ouyang told the man, "make sure that you tell everyone via radio that our security has been breached. We don't want anyone to get the impression that we've lost our edge. On top of that, radio in that anyone who isn't a bodyguard to the commander needs to start looking for those employees. If we can grab a good number of them then we can set a trap for these intruders."

"You'd kill the employees?" Abdurrahman asked him, knowing Ouyang to be less than concerned about casualties other than his own. The man was brave but more ferocious than even an angry monitor lizard. He wouldn't hesitate to kill what stood in their way.

"No," Ouyang told him, "I just want to make sure that we set out a good bait to draw in those CIA dogs." He then told them to follow him back to where the others were waiting. As they crossed the hallway Abdurrahman noticed something interesting out of the corner of his eye. A red mark on the concrete floor that almost looked like the back of a footprint, from someone wearing boots. "Well, well," Ouyang said after he'd been notified by Dur. "It looks like someone made a mistake. Let's wait for the rest of us to get here," he told them. "Then we can find out if these dogs have as much bite when they can't get you from behind."


End file.
